History of the Hambone Race
 
 
 
The famous Hambone Race is an annual tradition between the Marinwood Waterdevils and Lucas Valley Lightening swim teams.
 
This race occurs at the end of the annual dual-meet between the two swim teams. At that time the teams participate in a freestyle race that includes a individual swimmer from each of the ten age groups (8 U Boys, 8 U Girls, 9-10 Boys, 9-10 Girls, etc.) and anchored by the assistant and head coach of each team. The winning team is awarded a HAMBONE trophy and maintains it for the following year.
 
The history of this event is as follows:
 
In 1969, when swimmers and coaches arrived at a 6 AM practice of the Lucas Valley Waterlogs, which was the name of the team in those days, they discovered that raccoons had gotten into the garbage the night before and debris was thrown around the pool area. The team cleaned up the mess and during the cleanup, uncovered an old hambone from a party the previous day. Instead of discarding it, they decided to clean it up and use it as some type of award during their upcoming meet with the Marinwood Waterdevils. The head coaches of both teams discussed how they would use the hambone during their
upcoming dual meet and determined that they would conduct a separate race and award it as a “trophy” to the winner of that race. This was the beginning of the Hambone Race, which except for a minor change, has remained the same since that time. An assistant coach as well as the head coach swims in the race today, however, in the initial races, only the head coach swam.
 
For all swim team members, coaches and family members, this has become one of the most exciting events of the entire swim season. It is certainly the one that gets the most noise, conversation and excitement during the dual meet of these two teams. Since its inception, during each year’s race, spectators encircle the pool, 3 to 4 deep, to cheer on their team.
 
The original hambone was painted after the race each year with the color of the winning team and proudly displayed in their Community Center’s trophy case. Unfortunately, the original hambone finally fell apart a few years later and new hambones were “donated” by swim team parents to keep the tradition alive. The tradition of painting and displaying the hambone also died and the hambone was relegated to the freezer of the winning parent club president until the following year. In 1988 that all changed when a Lucas Valley parent, Diane McClure, came up with the idea of getting the hambone bronzed. After researching options for doing this, she found a site in New York that would bronze it and make it a trophy again. The Parent Club presidents of both teams agreed that  Lucas Valley would pay for the bronzing and Marinwood would provide a trophy stand to mount it so that our new “Hambone” could once again be proudly displayed in the trophy case of the winning team.
 
The Hambone is rich in tradition, like the Stanford Axe, San Rafael Bell and other famous sport rivalries that span the generations and provide everlasting memories to our sport, our teams and our heritage.